The water's fine

FRIGID ocean depths may become a more hospitable place for scuba divers who have to spend hours underwater at temperatures just above freezing, thanks to the US Navy.

For some jobs, divers can wear "hot water suits" that rely on warm water being pumped around a suit via a hose from the surface, but the hose can get in the way. So the US Navy has long been experimenting with special materials to prevent heat loss. Now it looks as though they're finally getting somewhere.

The secret is a layer of foam containing bits of wax inside tiny plastic beads, each just a tenth the width of a human hair. These bits of wax melt and freeze as the temperature changes. While the diver is putting on the drysuit, the wax absorbs warmth from the diver's body and melts. But when the diver slips into the icy waters, the wax ...

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